In 1890, Fridtjof Nansen comissioned the Naval Architect Colin Archer to build a ship that could survive being frozen into the arctic pack ice for five years. In 1893 the Fram was launched and Nansen set off to reach the North Pole be merely freezing his boat into the ice and letting it drift over the top of the world.

The boat reached a staggering 84°4N before Nansen, realising they were going to miss the pole set off with one other man on sledges to get there. At 86° Nansen was force to turn back and after spending four months of winter in a small tent they emerged in the spring to find a man out walking his dog. They were they discovered less than half a mile from a British arctic survey station. Later that summer a Supply vessel took them back to Norway where the Fram arrived, at the neighbouring port just seven days later after being trapped in the pack ice for three years.

This is remarkable enough for any ship. But the Fram was then taken on my Otto Sverdrup, who in 1898 too the Fram to the west coast of Greenland where they spent three years surveying the "white patches" on the map.

Then finally in 1910 Roald Amundsen, the man who found the Northwest passage recommisioned Fram for another attempt on the North Pole. However while fitting out it was announced that Robert Peary had got there already. So without even telling his crew Amundsen rotated his plans 180 degrees and headed for the south pole instead. This brought him into direct competition with an Englishman called Robert Scott.

On the journey to the South Pole the Fram was taken as far as 78°41S and therefore became the vessal to hold the record for the most parrallels of latitude crossed and the furthest north and furthest south both of which still stand today. The ship returned to Norway in 1914 and by 1936 the Fram had been preserved for all to see in Oslo.

And on to my pictures.

Fram from the bow. By this point in the trip I was really wishing I had a wide angle lense.


To protect it from ice the rudder and the propeller were designed so that they could be lifted up into the hull of the ship.


In the hold showing the cross bracings used to keep the boat from being crushed. The frames were 21 inches across. The stem post was four feet thick and the planking was up to 13 inches thick in places. Absolutely bomb proof.


Another shot in the hold. And another of my three second exposure freehand pictures.


On deck looking aft.


On the flying bridge looking forward.


Next up, Gjoa, the boat Roald Amundsen found the Northwest passage in. And the Kon Tiki and Ra rafts used by Thor Heyerdahl in his experiments.

Tis that. I've now read that while she doesn't hold the title for the furthest north a ship has ever been (some great russian nuclear icebreaker's been to the north pole) the furthest south is still hers. 

Actually the lighting in this museum was fantastic. There are large windows and clear perspex in the roof as you can see in the pictures. It was a refreshing change from the Viking museum and later, the Vasa Museet.

brilliant photos:)

Beautiful shots!!

Quote:

Unlike English Heritage the Norweigens seem to know how to preserve their historic ships. Fram is housed in a purpose build building and has been since 1936. Unlike the Cutty Sark that has been rotting away in a open air dry dock for 50 years.